Pavel - I asume you are a huge Steve Vai fan and can play Tender Surrender as many of your licks are used in that solo, which I think also is why you bought that particular Ibanez JEM-model... Am I right?

Steve Vai is the reason why i started to practice guitar seriously. As soon as as i saw him i knew i want to play like him or even better and i was sure the white JEM is mine!

As for Tender Surrender - i never tried to play it - but that song is one of my favorites!

For last 2 years i don't bother with playing someone's songs. I just don't see any point in it. Maybe one day i change my opinion but right now i simply practice and write my own stuff. Practicing all kinds of techniques takes 6 to 7 hours every day and i leave very little time to actually write/compose my own music. For now my goal is to actually learn to play (like Vai or Rusty - he is my main influence at the moment).

sorry if this seems like a noob question but how do you read this type of tab? I just joined and im used to reading tab like 12p10 or something like that, in these tabs it doesn't say what to hammer onto or to pull off of, is the next note on the tab the hammer/pulloff note?

If you haev just started practicing legato than it's normal. You have to practice it not too long - like 15 minutes per day if you are new to legato. Later you'll se how easy it is. You MUST be relaxed!

When i try to have my hand as you have yours, my pinky kinda bends when I try to position it vertically so only the outside of the pinky is placed on the string. But if I have my hand a bit more behind the neck (the best way to explain it I guess, but it's not a good explanation) it works out, and I'm able to placde the fingers vertically. Should I try to get it like yours or is it good enough? (I hope you understand what I mean, I suck at trying to explain things like this over the internet)

i can get the whole legato down with good enough speed, but i stil cant get a good strong sound like u when i try the hammer ons...should i turn the volume up on my amp even louder, cos maybe thats the reason im not gettin a loud enough sound(even though the volume is already very high). Because also, when i do the h. ons, just as practise and i hit the string very hard, still the sound that comes out isnt strong enough...so any ideas why this is happening?

Hey Pavel...Awesome lesson. My pinky and I are at odds again, but it will come. My hand strength is getting better but I find with the legato it tires pretty quick. I guess since I'm still pretty new at this my hand strength still needs to be worked on. Very challenging lesson but very fun...great job.

Hey Pavel...I actually posed this question on AIB234 Forum topic but after some thought realized I should have just asked it here.

Is there a standard to how many frets you span in legato? I think in the lesson it looks like your spanning 5 (8th to 12th incl.) I have trouble with my pinky when spanning 5...I tend to use the side of it instead of the top. Spanning 4 no problem but 5...I don't get the sound I'm suppose to and I tough the other strings it's making the lesson for me very difficult. Is this just a strenght thing or something I'm gonna have to learn to adjust to?

Hey Pavel...I actually posed this question on AIB234 Forum topic but after some thought realized I should have just asked it here.Is there a standard to how many frets you span in legato? I think in the lesson it looks like your spanning 5 (8th to 12th incl.) I have trouble with my pinky when spanning 5...I tend to use the side of it instead of the top. Spanning 4 no problem but 5...I don't get the sound I'm suppose to and I tough the other strings it's making the lesson for me very difficult. Is this just a strenght thing or something I'm gonna have to learn to adjust to?

No real rules - play to what you can do now, always practice to try to get more

Thanks Andrew and Pavel...Since I started at this lesson the other day I've incorporated some hand stretching before I practice. I stretched bfore but it was mostly upper body stuff as tend to slouch when playing...bad me. But since I've started this I've noticed a bit of improvement on my dexterity. Not so much on the pinky issue yet but hoping that will improve with time. Again Pavel this is a great lesson!

Keeping it in the middle is vital for legato. If you want to master it - you'll have to keep it there. You can play it your way if the lick is simple but if the exercise is more difficult there is no way you will be able to play it.

I was just practicing sweeping and noticed that thumb position depends on a sweep shape or run i am making - so, to those who wonder where to keep thumb - there is no FIXED position. Sometimes you'll need it on top of the neck, sometimes in the middle, sometimes on the bottom, sometimes close to the top. When i was playing 5-string sweep shapes i found i keep it very close to the top of the neck but when i play legato i keep it ALWAYS in the middle of the neck!

THANK YOU!! this is what i was experiencing with sweeping and i was thinking like wtf is goin on man whats wrong with me?! So thank you and i am going to find which position is more comfy for the shapes i know

first, thank u for this great lesson, it is amazing!!
I still have two questions:
we don't really see with details on the video the position of your right palm hand to mute the strings above the one you want to play. And to be honest I don't understand how to position my right hand palm to mute for example two or three strings, it seems a little complicated. can you explain?

then, I am not sure about the last part, what are you muting exactly, is your palm moving depending which string you play? At the beginning, B string, you mute E, A, D, G, with right palm, and e with your left hand (how?), ad then whn you play G string, so you mute E, A, D with palm and B, e, with left hand?

When you mute strings below the one you are playing you mute it with left hand index finger because if you fret for example G string you slightly touch B and E strings with the back side of index finger. It's not that simple so you have to get the feeling for it. Just try it and play around with it.

Muting with right hand...one of the ways is to mute it with the part of your thumb where it "joins" your hand. It's the biggest and softest part to use for muting. It's actually part of the hand where the thumb starts. It's hard to explain in words but i hope you understand what i mean.

All my problem is about muting the strings above the one I want to fret. and so you tell me to try with the start of the thumb.
In fact, when I start the piece you teach us here, i am on e string, and with right hand palm, I mute E A D G B. Right?
When then I move to the B string legato, I need in fact to "rise" a little my right hand thumb so I will mute E A D G. Right?

Now I think you did not answer the second question upthere about video #5, is there still a need to mute any string, or everything in the "verticality" of the fingers not to play wrong strings?

In this lesson we will work on basics of legato. It is very important to work on legato the correct way from the very beginning as it often happens that guitarplayers practice legato the wrong way and later spend much more time correcting mistakes than actually practicing the technique. There are a few secrets you should know in order to master this very useful technique and you will find them all inside!